Debbie Abrahams who led the debate said: “I always welcome the minister to his place, but I would like to ask why the Secretary of State isn’t here to answer.

The shadow work and pensions secretary said: “Obviously I understand that emergencies do happen, but I haven’t had any satisfactory response from his office when I rang earlier, and apparently Downing Street are none the wiser either.”

Work and Pensions Secretary was slammed for not attending the debate

The Tory responsible for the rollout was accused of disrespecting the House of Commons and those who are suffering under the benefit changes.

During the three-hour long debate many MPs gave passionate accounts of the struggles of their constituents who are facing hardship under the benefit changes. Labour said they would continue to stand up for those suffering as long as the Government refused to listen.

Debbie Abrahams is leading the debate

17:03

Speaker calls a vote on the motion

The question is “That this House has considered the government’s response to the decision of the House on pausing the Universal Credit full service rollout.” There is some confusion about the vote and John Bercow repeats the motion. There is assent and he declares that the “ayes have it”.

16:59

Debbie Abrahams is summing up

Thanks all speakers in the debate. Says she is disappointed the government hasn’t heard concerns. Says she is disappointed secretary of state hasn’t come to the house today - says it is “profoundly disrespectful to this House and the people we represent”. Says the debate is no comfort to those who are about to have the policy implemented in their areas. Ms Abrahams said: “What we have is a rare case where members of all parties are agreed on the fundamentals at stake” and are willing to work together. She refers to Theresa May’s speech when she became PM to help those who are struggling - says no help given to alleviate the miserable effects of 7 years of austerity. Says Government must act otherwise Labour will keep fighting.

16:53

Marie Rimmer asks when will the government start to listen

Marie Rimmer MP says the government needs to make Universal Credit ‘fit for purpose’. Says they have ignored the concerns raised in Westminster Hall debate on the northern rollout and are still not listening to MPs.

16:31KEY EVENT

Downing Street defends Gauke no-show

Downing Street defended David Gauke for failing to turn up to today’s debate on Universal Credit.A spokesman was forced to brush off claims he was “bored” and “running scared”.

Asked what Theresa May would say to claims it was another sign of contempt for the Commons, the spokeswoman said: “She would disagree.”

She added: “David Gauke has been heavily involved in debate in Parliament on UC over the past week, including the Opposition Day debate last week which lasted five hours.

“He also appeared in front of a select committee.”

Leaving the door open for a further climbdown, the spokeswoman said: “We are continuing to keep Universal Credit under review and looking at all the points raised in all of the debates.”

(Image: REUTERS)

16:15

Hugh Gaffney says people don't choose to live on benefits

Said Labour are listening but the Government still isn’t. Tackled rumours that people choose to live on benefits. Says it is a country that is not paying workers the wages they deserve. Mr Gaffney said the PM is more worried about her job then the millions of people who are suffering. Said last week he had Tory MPs mocking him in last week’s debate - Tory Simon Hall questions that allegation.

16:10

Labour MP Laura Smith says six-week wait is a penny pinching exercise

Last week she shared her experience of benefit delay as a teacher and a single parent. She said that the house has heard some horror stories - but they weren’t stories. The six week wait is forcing people into further debt. Said her constituency of Crewe is already one of the most indebted places in the country with almost 4,000 children in poverty. Ms Smith said the six week wait “is nothing more than a penny pinching exercise” said she couldn’t be expected to explain to her constituents that “the government six week wait is there to teach them how to better manage their finances”. Says argument that UC gets more people into work does not reveal what kind of work it is. She asked “What type of work is that? Secure work that pays a real living wage?”

15:34

Michael Tomlinson said it was ridiculous to accuse Tories of 'calculated cruelty'

The Tory MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole has criticised the Labour Party for suggesting that the Tories are ‘knowingly pushing people into poverty’.

He said he had been disappointed with the tone of the debate. Says no party has a ‘monopoly on compassion’.

15:29

Jack Dromey says Tories have demonised benefit claimants for years

Says government seem to be ‘oblivious’ to the pain they are causing. Says they have demonised benefit claimants for years. Dromey tells the story of his constituent Angela who cried in his office. A nurse whose husband works in the NHS and has two disabled sons told him how she was attacked after George Osborne talked about ‘shirkers and strivers’. She was out with her son and children in the street threw stones at him. Said the Tories have created this climate against people who need help.

(Image: Parliament TV)

Campaign group 38 Degrees has gathered more than 134,000 signatures on a petition to pause and fix Universal Credit

Amy Lockwood, Campaigns Manager at 38 Degrees, says: “Our members really want to see the big problems with Universal Credit fixed before it’s rolled out further. It’s cruel to force families to wait at least six weeks for financial help. The government urgently needs to listen to the concerns being voiced from the public, from experts, from the media - and as today’s debate shows, from many politicians too.”

Mark Harper said he couldn’t support last week’s motion. Says if people have circumstances which mean they need their rent paid directly to their landlords then government can do that but shouldn’t patronise people by doing it to everyone. Says there shouldn’t be a pause that wouldn’t help. Said he wasn’t surprised there was no secretary of state present as the government has had only three sitting days to respond.

14:44

SNP MP says he witnessed history last week when first successful opposition day motion in 40 years

Neil Grey MP said the behaviour of the Tories last week encapsulated the approach of the government to difficult decisions. Praised Debbie Abrahams and the speaker. Said they are ‘paralysed by fear’ and indecision. Says that rather than take the partial solution offered to them by Tory backbenchers they deflected and deferred. He said strong leadership would have seen action last week, would have accepted the parliamentary arithmetic, will of the house and the feelings of their constituents.

14:39

Liz Kendall says government policies often need ironing out

She says from her experience in government she knows that changes and adaptations to policies often have to be made when they need ironing out. She called on the Tories to pause the rollout so that they can better sort out these problems to stop people’s lives being hurt by the delays.

14:28

Frank Field MP is worried about his local food bank which says it needs 15 tonnes extra food because of Universal Credit

The Birkenhead MP says he has tried to raise this issue with the minister and secretary of state and is not satisfied with answer. His local foodbank are trying to get the extra food for Christmas because that is when the area will get universal credit. Minister Damian Hinds say food banks need more resources for Christmas. Says it is dangerous to ascribe that specifically to universal credit or other changes. Frank Field replies that the food bank is not scare mongering but has worked this out based on talking to food banks in other areas where the rollout has already happened. Labour MP mutters: “does that make you proud?”

14:23

Government minister Damian Hinds is at the dispatch box

Mr Hinds says the debate last week was good. He defended the government’s decision to abstain on the vote saying that the government takes part fully in all matters of the House of Commons. Says decision on whether or not to vote is one for MPs and their parties. Says that the speaker acknowledged that position.

14:20

Abrahams says she is glad costly helpline will be scrapped but asks when

She asks when the new phone line will come into place and asks whether it will be funded by the tax payer or the company who run the line. Also raises the issues of dentists not knowing who is eligible for free treatment because the benefit rolls several different benefits into one making it less clear. Anecdotal evidence of some people not going because of the fears they won’t get free treatment.

14:18

Abrahams says government knows their policy is pushing children into poverty

The most recent figures show an underspend by as much as 2.4%. Asks the government for an exact figure on the savings. Asks if that money saved can be used to help solve the problems with Universal Credit.

(Image: Parliament TV)

14:10

Tory MP Heidi Allen asks whether a waiting time of four weeks would satisfy Labour

Ms Allen, who has raised concerns about Universal Credit many times in the House of Commons, pointed out that it was too late now to stop UC by statutory instrument. “The moment, it feels to me, to pause Universal Credit determined by statutory instruments, as she will know, has passed. “There is another opportunity in January when there will be another month in-built pause into the system. “If we could find compromise with the Government and make some significant changes to the policy, such as reducing the six-week wait to four, would that be acceptable from the Opposition’s point of view?”

14:08

Debbie Abrahams says the government undermined parliament last week

Ms Abrahams says by abstaining on last week’s vote to “pause and fix” universal credit they were ignoring the role of parliament.

The Tories have said that they don’t have a policy of abstaining on opposition motions but will look at them on a “case by case” basis.

She asks when will the government listen to the “will of the House and the people we represent”

14:04

Labour's Chris Bryant points out the waiting time is intentional

The MP for the Rhonda says that Tories who were speaking out over the weekend were defending the policy but criticising the waiting time. Mr Bryant says the waiting time is part of the policy and not an accident. The waiting times have pushed many people into rent arrears.

13:58

Debbie Abrahams is asking why David Gauke is not present

She says she understands emergencies happen but Downing Street are none the wiser. There is a mutter of “outrageous” in the background as Ms Abrahams asks why Gauke has left this to his deputy.

Debbie Abrahams is leading the debate

13:57KEY EVENT

Tory in charge David Gauke is not here

A DWP source has told me Damian Hinds and David Gauke “agreed” Hinds would step in for the UC debate because it’s in his brief too. Not sure that will cut the mustard.

Secretary of State David Gauke is a no show (Image: Daily Mirror)

13:41

Growing pressure on Tories - even from their own side

Tory backbenchers Heidi Allen, Sarah Wollaston and Johnny Mercer have all expressed concern about the way in which the policy is being rolled out.

Even Iain Duncan Smith, who was the architect of Universal Credit, has said that the waiting time for benefits needs to be cut.

He said the length of time should be reduced from six weeks to one month.

The former Conservative leader has told his party to use next month’s budget to change the system.

(Image: Bloomberg)

Currently there is a month’s wait for a first UC payment, supposedly to reflect how people are paid at work.

But there are also seven “waiting days” beforehand and another week’s delay afterwards, bringing the total wait to six weeks.

The initial “waiting days” were hiked from three to seven in 2015 - a move that was claimed to cut £150m a year.

13:21

Reports DWP secretary David Gauke will not be in the debate

The Work and Pensions Secretary was expected to come to the House of Commons to defend his policy following last week’s vote.

But the Labour Party’s whips have said David Gauke would not be attending.

Last week Labour’s Debbie Abrahams accused the government of failing to stand up for their own policy.

Following the vote she said: “All previous governments have recognised that the failure to carry the House against an opposition motion is a serious rebuke to the government’s policy on an issue, and has been treated accordingly.”